All beaches are not alike

Blue house is home and back on beach time - though indeed a change from Playa Coson. Finally today the weather has warmed; T celebrated by wearing his birthday suit - though the river is hardly warm enough for swimming.
Had a good time with P Sunday, learning how to blow bubble gum bubbles on the drive to Floyd for the Empty Bowl benefit for the backpack program in the county. I delight in this benefit, getting to choose a bowl, then picking a soup to fill my bowl - taking a seat with friends while music plays. P was as delighted as I was - hugging her bowl, the colors of her red/black outfit, to her chest. P's braids done in the DR.
When I walked along the left bank of the river this afternoon where several clumps of Virginia bluebells bloom, I saw a clump of 12 yellow swallowtails in a patch of sand by the water.

careening wind - bones cold

Crazy April, snow flurries until this late afternoon; bundled up for walk with dogs - but not warm, nor could I warm to walk. Tried in the wind to cover raised beds, but the wind fought me off - i managed only one of the four. Hay covers small plants, but I think all will survive the 20 degrees - or pray this true. Reading a book, White Dog Fell from the Sky, Botswana in the 70's - beautifully written. A good day to fall into another world of a book - although I suffer the horror of that time, I learn. 

gratitude

this home that has not been a shell

out-grown, but has coiled inward

creating sound or capturing it

until at heart the center

aligns with nothing

more than me

and all that is 

not-me,

the universe, i suppose.

Busy in Nanee Land

Blue house is filled again and Mojo is sometimes there and sometimes here. Since I roasted a chicken for a welcome home dinner, I am the dog choice abode for I have scraps. Both Pearl and True have grown taller, seem more confident and delight me with their play. Pearl drew a picture of her brother on his red balloon - it was so funny to watch as True posed, winking one eye and twisting his face, sticking out his tongue. Then she drew a self portrait on her balloon - i do wish I had taken pictures. 
It is a leap at first to Nanee land, but now it seems I never vacated, not completely. Somewhat like motherhood, a permanent twist of the mind - hijacking of synapses? It has been a cold week, cold wind, snow flurries forecast tonight after midnight. I cover the raised beds, but the plants seem ok. Not growing much in the  cold, but the arugula and spinach are treats which Pearl and I nibble. Cilantro is looking promising. Some of the strawberry plants have flowers. And in the green house the lime and lemon still bloom, scenting the air. 

Yellow Swallowtails at river

red bud and the balcony

This picture reminds me of our house in New Orleans - the flowering tree and the balcony. The red bud are outstanding this year, or so it appears to me. I am glad that Baldwin and all will be home in time to see the spring still happening, sorry that this week is forecast to be colder than many weeks in March. But then April is always a bit more crazy and teasing. 

I wrote an email to the board of supervisors urging them to investigate the open burning at the Radford arsenal. A meeting Saturday was informative and disturbing. The permit for the Arsenal's open burning is up for renewal this year. There is no NO transparency in dealing with the Dept of Defense it seems. For years the hazardous waste at the arsenal was dumped into a sink hole on the 7,000 acres. There is a relatively high incidence of thyroid cancer here about. In 1999 the arsenal was put on the EPA's superfund lists - but mysteriously disappeared from that roster. Makes one wonder about any town/city adjacent to an arsenal - and to think that Blacksburg is a "great place to retire!" Grrrrr.

River stones

Over 40 years I have collected rocks from the river and brought them home to set in pots of flowers. Yesterday it occurred to me that when I reach 80, I will begin to bring a stone back to the river, each time I manage the trip down. A gesture of thanks, a giving up of things i have collected. Perhaps it will inspire me to disseminated other possessions. And leave less for my children to bother with after i am hanging out in another dimension, whatever. Or maybe they would rather bear a rock with them as they walk to the river, place them on my grave, if I have a grave - or just a depression in the field as do the graves of the two llamas. Unless I am ashes, and that would be easier to deal with, the only spot on this rocky land to dig a grave, is the sandy bottom land. If ashes, maybe a spot under an old oak on the top of Red Bud would be nice.

April Fools' Day

Met Alma at Tractor Supply to pick out some baby chicks, but the chicks we wanted were sold out. Alma has said that she would raise chicks for me and herself as she has all the equipment. I decided that I need 3 or 4 laying hens as I have only three hens laying and three hens dying. This morning I found the last of the Barred Rocks dead; my lace wing doesn't look long for the world. 
In celebration of April Fools' Day, I took a good walk with dogs, smiling over memories of my mother's cotton stuffed cheese snacks she would serve with cocktails on this day. I often rack my brain for something silly to do on this day to fool friends, and I listen to NPR closely to hear the bogus story (I still remember the duck tape farm). 
This spring awes me as if I have never walked in spring - as if winter erased all memory of spring from my mind!